THE wait is finally over! Football action reclaims its place on the centre stage as the 2017 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season bursts into life this afternoon.
BY KEVIN MAPASURE
In theory, 18 teams start the campaign to win the biggest domestic football prize in the country, but in reality, probably half that number harbour hopes or thoughts of lifting the big trophy.
For the rest, it will probably be about a decent finish or mere survival itself.
After money changed hands, players changed clubs and coaches were chopped and changed, the fruits of all that worth go through the rigorous and enduring test.
Each of the top-flight clubs carry different ambitions, but few will be honest about what they seek this time on.
Probably the modest ones, whose ambition is confined to preserving a place among the elite, can declare their interests.
But even when it seems so obvious for clubs like Caps United, Highlanders, FC Platinum and Dynamos, pressure suffocates them from declaring their number one goal of winning the championship.
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The stakes are higher this time on. There is an added carrot — winning the league title after the introduction of the Castle Challenge Cup — which will be contested for by the champions and the winners of the Chibuku Super Cup.
Winners of the Castle Challenge Cup are set to earn an extra $30 000, while the losers get $20 000.
Either way, winning the league title or the Chibuku Super Cup carries an extra incentive this time on.
The start of the league run could not have been more gripping, as Dynamos host FC Platinum at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow. It’s a match that pits two coaches against each other, whose brief is to win the league title.
A fast start is what both require and a good result for either may also be a good source of momentum in what promises to be another intriguing race.
Both Lloyd Mutasa at Dynamos and Norman Mapeza at FC Platinum can hardly escape scrutiny.
Mapeza has enjoyed a bountiful hunt in the transfer market, where he robbed DeMbare of Brett Amidu, Hwange of Gift Mbweti and ZPC Kariba of Talent Chawapihwa, while Mutasa, after losing a number of stars both at his own volition and some where his arm was twisted, has rebuilt both from the juniors and a few freebies.
Yet that will not be defence enough for him when time comes for him to be judged.
So demanding are the Dynamos supporters that Mutasa will be under pressure from the start.
After winning the championship, Lloyd Chitembwe will enjoy some wriggle room at Caps United and he could benefit from that to work under less pressure.
His team’s first instalment is an away match against Shabanie Mine, a match that Chitembwe views as a potential banana skin.
Caps United and Ngezi Platinum Stars are probably the best prepared sides at the moment, having been involved in the African safari.
Highlanders, on the other hand, view this as probably the year Erol Akbay can deliver the title for the club, having used the past season to warm into his role and the league.
It will be interesting to see what the newcomers Yadah, Black Rhinos, Bantu Rovers and Shabanie Mine have to offer.
